The serious burns obtained by a 2-year-old child in Myerstown were caused by someone intentionally holding the child's arms under a hot liquid, a medical expert told state police.

Police said they believe Joshua Tyler Booher, 19, of Columbia, Lancaster County, is the man who committed the act and have charged him in connection with the incident. An affidavit of probable cause submitted by Trooper Erica Miller sheds more light on the gruesome nature of the child abuse, but not on Booher's possible motivations.

Miller said she was called to WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital in the early morning of April 22 to investigate after medical staff determined the child had serious burns on his arms, bruises in several places on his body, and pine needles in his diaper. The 2-year-old child had been brought to the hospital by his father, Seth Buck, and Booher, who is Buck's boyfriend, the affidavit states.

Buck told police that he went to Walmart for about 20 minutes, leaving Booher in charge of the child. After returning, he heard the child whining, saw the injuries and asked Booher what had happened. Booher told Buck he had no idea anything was wrong, according to the affidavit.

When Miller interviewed Booher, he said he had left the child alone sleeping in bed for about six minutes and the child had the burns when he returned, the affidavit states.

"I explained that he is telling me this child ended up with 3rd degree burns while sleeping in his bed," Miller wrote. "Booher related it makes no sense and further related it makes no sense to him either."

It also didn't make sense to a medical expert. Doctor Barbara Katz of the Lehigh Valley Health Network determined the burns could not have been accidental, since a child's natural reaction would cause them to pull their hands out of boiling water, according to the affidavit.

"She explained (the child's) burns were immersion burns which means his hands were held in extremely hot or boiling water for several seconds by someone else," Miller wrote.

According to the affidavit, Katz's medical report stated:

The child had second-degree and possible third-degree burns to the hands, wrists and forearms.

The child had bruises on the right shoulder, mid-back, above the left eyebrow and eye lid, on the lower right cheek, left cheek, inner earlobe, right upper eyelid and left mid-leg.

The injuries could not have occurred through play or by accident but were "concerning for physical abuse."

Miller then talked to the child's mother about her conversation with the victim.

"(W)hen she asked him what had happened to him he said 'Josh,'" Miller wrote. "She related she asked what Josh did and he told her 'Josh washed my hands in hot water.'"

Booher has been charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.

He was arraigned before magisterial district judge Maria Dissinger and released on $100,000 monetary bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 17 in front of magisterial district judge Anthony Verna.